Kansas City Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez damaged the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, raising the possibility the 2015 World Series MVP may need Tommy John surgery and miss the season.Perez was hurt during a workout Wednesday, and the team said a MRI on Thursday revealed the damage. Perez will travel next week to California for a second opinion from Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.The 28-year-old has been an All-Star for six straight seasons and won Gold Gloves in five of the last six years. He hit .235 last year and had 27 home runs and 80 RBIs for the second straight season. He has a $10 million salary this year and is owed $13 million in each of the following two seasons.Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria are the other catchers on Kansas City's 40-man roster. Gallagher, who appeared in 35 games during the past two years, has a .218 career average with two home runs and 12 RBIs.Viloria, 22, was a September callup last season and has appeared... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics added depth at catcher on Monday, agreeing to a minor league contract with Nick Hundley.If added to the 40-man roster, the 35-year-old would get a one-year contract paying a $1.25 million salary while in the major leagues.He was catching during Oakland's opening training workout."He's a well-respected veteran coming off a really good year," Oakland executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane said. "We're lucky to make that kind of addition."Jonathan Lucroy left as a free agent for the Los Angeles Angels, and Chris Herrmann and Josh Phegley are the only catchers on Oakland's 40-man roster. The team also is high on Sean Murphy, a third-round pick in the 2016 amateur draft.Hundley liked what he saw of the A's, who won 97 games last season and earned a berth in the AL wild-card game, where they lost to the New York Yankees."Playing against them, I've always respected the way their players play the game and always from afar, there are... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics added depth at catcher on Monday, agreeing to a minor league contract with Nick Hundley.If added to the 40-man roster, the 35-year-old would get a one-year contract paying a $1.25 million salary while in the major leagues.He was catching during Oakland's opening training workout."He's a well-respected veteran coming off a really good year," Oakland executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane said. "We're lucky to make that kind of addition."Jonathan Lucroy left as a free agent for the Los Angeles Angels, and Chris Herrmann and Josh Phegley are the only catchers on Oakland's 40-man roster. The team also is high on Sean Murphy, a third-round pick in the 2016 amateur draft.Hundley liked what he saw of the A's, who won 97 games last season and earned a berth in the AL wild-card game, where they lost to the New York Yankees."Playing against them, I've always respected the way their players play the game and always from afar, there are... [More]

A team-by-team look at the American League West entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad:___Houston AstrosManager: AJ Hinch (fifth season).2018: 103-59, first place, lost to Boston in ALCS.Training Town: West Palm Beach, Florida.Park: Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.First Workout: Feb. 14/18.He's Here: OF Michael Brantley, C Robinson Chirinos, LHP Wade Miley, INF Aledmys Diaz.He's Outta Here: INF-OF Marwin Gonzalez, LHP Dallas Keuchel, RHP Charlie Morton, DH Evan Gattis, LHP Tony Sipp, C Brian McCann, C Martin Maldonado.Going campin': The Astros won a franchise-record 103 games last season and reached the ALCS. But mounting injuries and inconsistent play led to their elimination by Boston in five games and kept them from repeating as champions after winning their first World Series title in 2017. Houston returns aces Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, who are both coming off great... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Catcher Jonathan Lucroy would earn $4,525,000 under his deal with the Los Angeles Angels if he makes 135 starts behind the plate and has 525 plate appearances.Lucroy gets a $3.35 million salary under the deal announced Saturday and can earn $600,000 for starts at catcher and $575,000 for plate appearances.He would get $50,000 for 100 starts at catcher, $75,000 each for 105 and each additional five though 130 and $100,000 for 135. He also would get $50,000 each for 350 and 375 plate appearances, $75,000 apiece for 400 and each additional 25 through 500, and $100,000 for 525.A two-time All-Star, the 32-year-old Lucroy batted .241 with four homers, 51 RBIs and a .617 OPS in 126 games last year during his only season with the Oakland Athletics. Though he struggled at the plate, he received praise for his management of the A's pitching staff.Lucroy is taking a cut from is $6.5 million salary last year.Before signing Lucroy, the Angels did not have an accomplished major league catcher on their 40-man roster. Jose Briceno made his debut last season, and the team claimed Kevan Smith off waivers from the Chicago White Sox two months ago.The Angels will be Lucroy's fifth team in four seasons. He played his first 5½ seasons with Milwaukee, making All-Star teams in 2014 and 2016.Lucroy, a .277 career hitter, finished fourth in NL MVP voting in 2014.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy has finalized a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels.The team announced the move Saturday. To make room on the roster, right-hander Austin Brice was designated for assignment.Yahoo Sports reported the deal is for $3.35 million.A two-time All-Star, the 32-year-old Lucroy batted .241 with four homers, 51 RBIs and a .617 OPS in 126 games this year during his only season with the Oakland Athletics. Though he struggled at the plate, he received praise for his management of the A's pitching staff.Before signing Lucroy, the Angels did not have an accomplished major league catcher on their 40-man roster. Jose Briceno made his debut last season, and the team claimed Kevan Smith off waivers from the Chicago White Sox two months ago.The Angels will be Lucroy's fifth team in four seasons. He played his first 5½ seasons with Milwaukee, making All-Star teams in 2014 and 2016.Lucroy, a .277 career hitter, finished fourth in NL MVP voting in 2014.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the agreement says catcher Jonathan Lucroy has agreed to join the Los Angeles Angels.The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because the deal has not been announced by the Angels, who had no accomplished big-league catchers on their 40-man roster.Yahoo Sports reported the one-year, $3.35 million deal contains incentives that could raise the two-time All-Star's compensation to over $4 million.The Angels will be Lucroy's fifth team in four seasons. He batted .241 with 51 RBIs in 126 games last year for the Oakland Athletics.Lucroy played his first 5 ½ seasons with Milwaukee, and he appeared in the All-Star Game in 2014 and 2016 before getting traded to Texas in July 2016. He played briefly for the Rangers and Colorado before joining Oakland in March 2018.Lucroy, a career .277 hitter, finished fourth in the NL MVP voting in 2014 when he batted .301 with 13 homers and 69 RBIs.He hit his 100th homer last season... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the agreement says catcher Jonathan Lucroy has agreed to join the Los Angeles Angels.The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because the deal has not been announced by the Angels, who had no accomplished big-league catchers on their 40-man roster.Yahoo Sports reported the one-year, $3.35 million deal contains incentives that could raise the two-time All-Star's compensation to over $4 million.The Angels will be Lucroy's fifth team in four seasons. He batted .241 with 51 RBIs in 126 games last season for the Oakland Athletics.Lucroy began his career with Milwaukee and appeared in the All-Star Game in 2014 and 2016. He played briefly for Texas and Colorado before joining Oakland.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics plan to discuss a contract extension with manager Bob Melvin this offseason as well as possible new deals with home run leader Khris Davis and All-Star second baseman Jed Lowrie.Two days after the A's lost to the New York Yankees in a wild-card game, team officials began mapping out the framework for 2019 with hopes of capitalizing on the team's first playoff appearance in four years.Signing Melvin, Oakland's manager since 2011, to an extension is high on the list of things to do. He's currently signed through the 2019 season."Bob's one of the best in the game and he's perfect for us," said Executive Vice President Billy Beane, who appeared before reporters Friday along with Melvin and general manager David Forst. "The idea is that he's here for a long time and the rest of his career. Our feeling is that Bob's the right guy for this club and should be going forward. (That's) another question that we hope to have answered in the offseason."The... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Other than opening with a reliever on the mound, nothing was any different about this October for the Oakland Athletics.They didn't last very long ... again.Liam Hendriks gave up a two-run homer to Aaron Judge on his ninth pitch and the A's never recovered, making another early playoff exit with a 7-2 loss to the New York Yankees in the American League wild-card game Wednesday night.Oakland's dangerous bats were mostly silenced by Luis Severino and a nasty New York bullpen, sending the A's right back across the country and home for the winter — an abrupt ending to their surprisingly successful 97-win season."Unless you play the last game, it's disappointing," manager Bob Melvin said. "So I think when you reflect back and look where we started the year, kind of where we came from, it ends up being a good year. But it doesn't feel good right now."Meanwhile, the Yankees advanced to a best-of-five Division Series against rival Boston.It was the eighth consecutive defeat for... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Other than opening with a reliever on the mound, nothing was any different about this October for the Oakland Athletics.They didn't last very long ... again.Liam Hendriks gave up a two-run homer to Aaron Judge on his ninth pitch and the A's never recovered, making another early playoff exit with a 7-2 loss to the New York Yankees in the American League wild-card game Wednesday night.Oakland's dangerous bats were mostly silenced by Luis Severino and a nasty New York bullpen, sending the A's right back across the country and home for the winter — an abrupt ending to their surprisingly successful 97-win season."Unless you play the last game, it's disappointing," manager Bob Melvin said. "So I think when you reflect back and look where we started the year, kind of where we came from, it ends up being a good year. But it doesn't feel good right now."Meanwhile, the Yankees advanced to a best-of-five Division Series against rival Boston.It was the eighth consecutive defeat for... [More]

A look at the American League wild-card game between the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees:___Schedule: Wednesday, at New York, 8:08 p.m. EDT (TBS).___Season Series: Split 3-3.___Projected Lineups:Athletics: LF Nick Martini (.296, 1 HR, 19 RBIs), 3B Matt Chapman (.278, 24, 68, 42 2Bs, 100 runs), 2B Jed Lowrie (.267, 23, 99, 37 2Bs), DH Khris Davis (.247, 48, 123), RF Stephen Piscotty (.267, 27, 88, 41 2Bs), 1B Matt Olson (.247, 29, 84), SS Marcus Semien (.255, 15, 70), CF Ramon Laureano (.288, 5, 19 in 48 games), C Jonathan Lucroy (.241, 4, 51).Yankees: LF Andrew McCutchen (.255, 20, 65 for Pirates and Yankees) or Brett Gardner (.236, 12, 45, 16 SBs), RF Aaron Judge (.278, 27, 67, 152 Ks in 112 games), SS Didi Gregorius (.268, 27, 86 in 134 games), DH Giancarlo Stanton (.266, 38, 100, 211 Ks), CF Aaron Hicks (.248, 27, 79 in 137 games), 3B Miguel Andujar (.297, 27, 92, 47 2Bs), 1B Luke Voit (.322, 15, 36 in 47 games for Cardinals and Yankees; .333, 14, 33 in 39 games with Yankees),... [More]

A look at the American League wild-card game between the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees:___Schedule: Wednesday, at New York, 8:08 p.m. EDT (TBS).___Season Series: Split 3-3.___Projected Lineups:Athletics: LF Nick Martini (.296, 1 HR, 19 RBIs), 3B Matt Chapman (.278, 24, 68, 42 2Bs, 100 runs), 2B Jed Lowrie (.267, 23, 99, 37 2Bs), DH Khris Davis (.247, 48, 123), RF Stephen Piscotty (.267, 27, 88, 41 2Bs), 1B Matt Olson (.247, 29, 84), SS Marcus Semien (.255, 15, 70), CF Ramon Laureano (.288, 5, 19 in 48 games), C Jonathan Lucroy (.241, 4, 51).Yankees: LF Andrew McCutchen (.255, 20, 65 for Pirates and Yankees) or Brett Gardner (.236, 12, 45, 16 SBs), RF Aaron Judge (.278, 27, 67, 152 Ks in 112 games), SS Didi Gregorius (.268, 27, 86 in 134 games), DH Giancarlo Stanton (.266, 38, 100, 211 Ks), CF Aaron Hicks (.248, 27, 79 in 137 games), 3B Miguel Andujar (.297, 27, 92, 47 2Bs), 1B Luke Voit (.322, 15, 36 in 47 games for Cardinals and Yankees; .333, 14, 33 in 39 games with Yankees),... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics clinched their first playoff berth in four years, then beat the Seattle Mariners 7-3 Monday night behind Khris Davis' major league-leading 46th home run.Jonathan Lucroy, Jed Lowrie and Matt Chapman also homered for the A's, assured no worse than an AL wild card.Oakland was one out into the game when Tampa Bay was eliminated with a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The A's went on to win after Chapman broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run drive in the seventh off Shawn Armstrong (0-1).Coming off three straight last-place finishes in the AL West, the A's (95-62) are 4½ games behind AL West-leading Houston. They trail the Yankees by 1½ games for home-field advantage should they meet in a wild-card matchup.Robinson Cano and Dee Gordon homered for the Mariners.The Athletics will be making their fourth playoff appearance in the last seven seasons, all under manager Bob Melvin, and their 27th overall. The A's lost at Kansas City 9-8 in 12 innings in the 2014 wild-card... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics clinched their first playoff berth since 2014, then beat the Seattle Mariners 7-3 Monday night behind Khris Davis' major league-leading 46th home run.Jonathan Lucroy, Jed Lowrie and Matt Chapman also homered for the A's, assured no worse than a wild-card berth.Oakland was one out into the game when Tampa Bay was eliminated with a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The A's went on to win after Chapman broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run drive in the seventh off Shawn Armstrong (0-1).Coming off three straight last-place finishes in the AL West, the A's (95-62) are 4½ games behind AL West-leading Houston. They trail the Yankees by 1½ games for home-field advantage should they meet in a wild-card matchup.Robinson Cano and Dee Gordon homered for the Mariners.The Athletics will be making their fourth playoff appearance in the last seven seasons, all under manager Bob Melvin, and their 27th overall. The A's lost at Kansas City 9-8 in 12 innings in the 2014 wild-card... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pinch-running pitcher Vince Velasquez was called out for leaving second base early while tagging up, resulting in a game-ending double play that gave the Washington Nationals a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.After Aaron Nola outpitched Max Scherzer for the second time in six days in a matchup of NL Cy Young Award contenders, the Phillies watched Washington rally for three runs in the ninth to take a 5-3 lead.Ramos got Philadelphia within a run with a pinch-hit double in the ninth, and Velasquez pinch-ran for the catcher. Greg Holland relieved and retired Jorge Alfaro on a flyball to center, with Velasquez moving to third as the potential tying run.But the Nationals appealed that Velasquez left too soon, and he was called out. A replay upheld the ruling.Anthony Rendon hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Pat Neshek (1-1) in the Nationals ninth. The Nationals trailed 3-2 when Bryce Harper drew a leadoff walk from Tommy Hunter. Neshek surrendered Rendon's... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pinch-running pitcher Vince Velasquez was called out for leaving second base early while tagging up, resulting in a game-ending double play that gave the Washington Nationals a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.After Aaron Nola outpitched Max Scherzer for the second time in six days in a matchup of NL Cy Young Award contenders, the Phillies watched Washington rally for three runs in the ninth to take a 5-3 lead.Ramos got Philadelphia within a run with a pinch-hit double in the ninth, and Velasquez pinch-ran for the catcher. Greg Holland relieved and retired Jorge Alfaro on a flyball to center, with Velasquez moving to third as the potential tying run.But the Nationals appealed that Velasquez left too soon, and he was called out. A replay upheld the ruling.Anthony Rendon hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Pat Neshek (1-1) in the Nationals ninth. The Nationals trailed 3-2 when Bryce Harper drew a leadoff walk from Tommy Hunter. Neshek surrendered Rendon's... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Sonny Gray made the most of a foray into the starting rotation by taking a three-hitter into the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 Saturday night for a doubleheader sweep.In the opener, rookie Miguel Andujar homered and had four RBIs, J.A. Happ (15-6) won his fifth straight start and New York rolled to a 10-3 victory.Gray (10-8) gave up three hits, a walk and struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander had been exiled to the bullpen after yielding seven runs in a loss to Baltimore on Aug. 1.Gray allowed only one runner past second base in helping the Yankees notch their seventh win in eight games to pull seven games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.Austin Romine homered, had three hits and scored three runs for the Yankees, who led 4-0 after four innings against Andrew Cashner (4-12).Andujar had two hits in each game to raise his batting average to .300. He leads AL rookies in batting, multihit games (43) and RBIs (70).RAYS... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Sonny Gray made the most of a foray into the starting rotation by taking a three-hitter into the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 Saturday night for a doubleheader sweep.In the opener, rookie Miguel Andujar homered and had four RBIs, J.A. Happ (15-6) won his fifth straight start and New York rolled to a 10-3 victory.Gray (10-8) gave up three hits, a walk and struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander had been exiled to the bullpen after yielding seven runs in a loss to Baltimore on Aug. 1.Gray allowed only one runner past second base in helping the Yankees notch their seventh win in eight games to pull seven games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.Austin Romine homered, had three hits and scored three runs for the Yankees, who led 4-0 after four innings against Andrew Cashner (4-12).Andujar had two hits in each game to raise his batting average to .300. He leads AL rookies in batting, multihit games (43) and RBIs (70).RAYS... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs in a game for the first time in the major leagues, and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Cleveland Indians 7-4 on Friday night.Ohtani, whose four hits were also the most of his big league career, singled in the eighth and scored the go-ahead run on David Fletcher's double.The Angels won at Progressive Field for the first time since June 17, 2014, breaking a 10-game skid.Ohtani hit a two-run homer in the first and a solo home run in the third off Mike Clevinger.Justin Anderson (3-2) pitched the seventh and the Angels' bullpen held the Indians to one run over the final four innings.Cleveland's bullpen allowed four runs in the eighth to break a 3-all tie. Ohtani started the rally with a one-out single off Oliver Perez (0-1). He stole second and Albert Pujols was intentionally walked with a 3-0 count.RED SOX 4, YANKEES 1BOSTON (AP) — Rick Porcello pitched a one-hitter, Steve Pearce homered for the fourth time in two nights and Boston beat New... [More]